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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26526427">Running the Gauntlet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zetor/pseuds/Zetor'>Zetor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s01e16 Enchanting Grom Fright, F/F, The Grom (The Owl House)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:06:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26526427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zetor/pseuds/Zetor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>At the last minute, Amity decides she can't let Luz fight her battles for her and faces Grom herself.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight/Luz Noceda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>212</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story, especially the first chapter, borrows a lot from the script of Enchanting Grom Fright. Thanks and credit for those words and the world they are set in go to Molly Ostertag, Dana Terrace, and the rest.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Amity slipped out of the gym, uncomfortable with the growing excitement over Luz's battle with Grom. Almost without thinking, she pulled out the invitation she'd been unable to give Luz and began anxiously fiddling with it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was just a folded up piece of paper, but it somehow felt heavy; a physical representation of the mess she had dragged Luz into. She didn't really want to think about that, not that it kept her from doing so. Yes, Luz had volunteered, and yes, she'd done everything she could to prepare the human girl, but deep down she knew Luz didn't understand what she was getting into.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hearing footsteps, Amity quickly slipped the invitation into her pocket and looked up to find the girl in question, the girl who she hadn't been able to keep out of her thoughts for the past few weeks, rounding the corner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slightly hunched over and holding her stomach, Luz turned to Amity with a queasy look on her face and said, "I'm not sure if it's nerves or I accidentally drank some milk, but something's making my stomach squirm."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity approached her crush as the other girl straightened up. Managing a smile, she said, "You look nice, strange, but nice." And she did, a tutu and tux ensemble never would have occurred to Amity—she never would have attempted to pull it off, even if it did—but on Luz, it somehow worked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Placing her hands on Luz's shoulders, Amity noticed a barely perceptible quivering. Suddenly, the paper in her pocket was even heavier. Without thinking, she found herself saying, "And, thank you, Luz. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed with how fearless you are. You've done things I could never do."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leaning back and crossing her arms, Luz grinned at Amity. Teasingly, the human girl chuckled and replied, "Yeah right. You going soft on me, Blight?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luz's playful question was like a jab to the gut. Amity wanted to laugh it off and give a sarcastic response, but she couldn't. The invitation now felt so heavy that she was sure it would tear through her pocket and fall to the floor. Summoning courage she didn't know she had, Amity clenched her fists and steeled herself for what she was about to do. Casting her eyes down, she stammered, "No. No, I–".</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity was cut off by a booming announcement from within the gym, "Now introducing your Grom queen. You know her, you love her, you've at least heard of her, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Luz</span>
  </em>
  <span> the </span>
  <em>
    <span>human</span>
  </em>
  <span>!" The bloodthirsty cheers from the audience almost shook Amity's resolve, but she held firm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Amity could continue, Luz took her hands and held them up between them. Her voice full of the compassion that had melted the young witch's heart, Luz said, "Amity, it's alright. I was just kidding."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity felt herself blush, but ignored it. Looking her crush in the eyes, she said, "Luz, I'm going to fight Grom."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luz's vibrant brown eyes widened. "Amity, you don't have to–"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes, Luz, I do," Amity said firmly, holding tightly to Luz's hands. "I never should have let you take my place to begin with." Letting go and turning around before she lost her nerve, Amity walked purposefully toward the gym.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From behind her, Luz called out, "You got this, Amity! Go show Grom who's boss!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she stepped into the brightly lit gym, Amity desperately hoped the human girl was right.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lights focused on Amity as she entered the gym, temporarily blinding her as a confused murmur ran through the students in the bleachers. Onstage, Gus was quick to recover, announcing, "And here's Luz's coach, Amity Blight!"</p><p>Her mouth dry, Amity called out, "<em> I'm </em> fighting Grom."</p><p>"Um, but I thought—" the young MC began.</p><p>"<em> Push </em> the <em> button </em>," Amity said firmly, glaring up at the stage. Her tone made it clear that there would be no further discussion on the matter.</p><p>"Right. Pushing the button," Gus replied in a near-panic, almost tripping as he hurried over to the podium and did so.</p><p>Even though she knew it was coming, Amity still almost flinched at the eruption of cheers as the floor began to shake. With a heavy grinding sound, a wall of weapons rose up on either side of her, boxing her in as the floor in front of her split apart to reveal a ramp that led down to the shadows where Grometheus the fear-bringer awaited her. She only had two paths now, face her fear or run back to Luz, and as much as she wanted to, running away wasn't an option.</p><p>Without having to look, she reached out to the wall she'd anxiously stared at so many times over the past few days and picked out a rapier from among the collection of weapons. Giving the sword a quick flick, she nodded her approval of its balance and strode forward toward the ramp.</p><p>"There she goes, folks," Gus announced from the stage, already back in his groove. "How will Amity Blight, top student of the abomination track, fare against the fearsome <em> Grom </em> ?" There was another cheer from the bleachers, letting Amity know how eager her classmates were to see her literally face her worst fear. To <em> see </em> her fear. </p><p>Amity swallowed nervously as she descended the ramp, trying her best to project an air of confidence. When she reached the dirt floor of the pit, she found herself surrounded by the shifting inky darkness of Grom. A squelching sound from behind her nearly made her jump, quickly followed by her twin older siblings' voices speaking in unison, "Hi, Mittens."</p><p>Spinning around, Amity found herself face to face with copies of Emira and Edric, both smiling smugly down at her. Grom-Emira leaned forward and said, "I have to say, I'm impressed. I can't believe you actually had the courage to come out and fail at this on your own. Weren't you going to get Luz to do it for you?"</p><p>"Seriously," Grom-Edric agreed, taking a step toward Amity. "You even had us train her. I thought you'd figured out that you'd never be good enough to defeat Grom and had decided to let her take the fall for you."</p><p>"I–" Amity began, only to be cut off by the copy of her sister.</p><p>"It's sad," Grom-Emira said with fake pity. "I really thought our little sister had finally figured out what a failure she is."</p><p>"You mean that even though she spends all her time studying, she'll never be as good as we are without even trying?" Grom-Edric asked.</p><p>Grom-Emira sighed and rolled her eyes. "That was the implication, yes."</p><p>Grom-Edric shrugged. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure Mittens got it. She <em> is </em> kind of slow."</p><p>Amity's hand tightened around the grip of her sword. It was true that she didn't have the natural talent for magic that her siblings did. Everything came easily to Emira and Edric; she had to work twice as hard as they did to even come close to achieving the same result. She did work that hard though; she worked <em> harder </em> . Finding her voice, she said, "I am <em> not </em> slow."</p><p>Walking up to Amity, Grom-Emira leaned in until she was inches away and whispered in her ear, "If you really believe that, then why are we here?"</p><p>Growling, Amity took a step back and thrust her blade into the thing impersonating her sister. She was flooded with relief when the creature disappeared, only to have a wave of dread wash over her when it reappeared next to the copy of her brother. Illusion magic.</p><p>Grom-Emira wagged a finger disapprovingly. "Come on, Mittens, you know you've never been able to land a blow on us."</p><p>"I think she needs a demonstration of how impossible it is for her to ever catch up with us," Grom-Edric said, turning to his counterpart and extending his hand.</p><p>"It's sad, but I think you're right," Grom-Emira said with a sigh, extending her own hand. In perfect sync, the twins drew a large blue circle in the air, and as it dissipated, a dozen clones of the pair appeared in a circle around Amity.</p><p>The youngest blight sibling felt her pulse quicken in panic, but forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down. She couldn't let herself be frightened, that was exactly what Grom wanted.</p><p>"Come on, Mittens. Just give up," Grom-Edric called from every direction.</p><p>"Yeah, Mittens; let us take care of you. You're just not strong enough to make it on your own," agreed Grom-Emira, her voice echoing throughout the stone walled pit.</p><p>"Yes–, " Amity said through gritted teeth as she raised her weapon. "–I–" She traced a purple circle in the air with the tip of her blade. "–am!" she shouted as a giant abomination arm grew out of the circle and struck one of the pairs of illusions.</p><p>As they faded from existence, Amity began to spin in place, her skirt flaring as she swung the mottled purple arm through the circle of clones. Finally, two thirds of the way through the circle, her spell slammed into something solid and sent the Grom copies of her siblings flying into one of the pillars that lined the walls. They didn't disappear like the others, instead hitting the pillar with a wet thud and melting into the inky darkness of Grom as they slid down the wall.</p><p>Amity released her spell and watched with satisfaction as the remaining illusory clones of her siblings blinked out of existence. She felt her whole body relax, not having realized how tense she had become during her confrontation with her siblings. It was over though, and Grom hadn't turned into who she was afraid it would. No one would know about her crush. She turned to walk back toward the ramp, when another familiar voice called out to her from within the pit.</p><p>"Abandoning me again, Amity?" Willow's voice echoed from the shadows.</p><p>Amity felt all the tension that had left her body immediately snap back. Admonishing herself for being foolish enough to think that facing Grom could possibly be as easy as simply fighting her siblings, Amity slowly turned to face her next challenge.</p><p>A perfect imitation of her childhood friend, the childhood friend she'd abandoned and treated like dirt, stood waiting for her. An uncharacteristic sneer marring her usually bright face, Grom-Willow continued, "I'm never going to forgive you, Amity. You discarded me. Your parents told you not to associate with me, but you did worse. You treated me like garbage for years. I will never be your friend, and I'll make sure Luz won't either."</p><p>"No, Willow–" Amity found herself saying, before stopping herself. There was no point in arguing with her own fears. Yes, she was worried that Willow would never really forgive her for everything she'd done, but she couldn't do anything about that. She'd faced the fear of her siblings being better than she was by mustering the confidence to face them, but how was she supposed to face a fear she had no control over?</p><p>Grom-Willow didn't give her time to figure it out, pressing her verbal assault, "You're a bully, Amity, just like the rest of your family. You don't have any real friends, just people who want something from you or are afraid of you. I'm not afraid anymore though, and I'm not going to let you trample over anyone else ever again."</p><p>"Please, I don't want to fight you, Willow," Amity pleaded, despite herself.</p><p>"That's too bad, because<em> I </em> want to fight <em> you </em>," Grom-Willow shouted, drawing twin green circles in the air and slamming them into the ground. The earth beneath Amity rumbled, and she barely managed to jump back as two thick thorn-covered vines erupted from below and pierced the air where she'd been standing.</p><p>Amity stumbled and almost fell when she landed, a sharp sting from her left leg causing her to flinch. A quick glance down revealed that she hadn't dodged quite fast enough, one of the thorns having managed to tear her dress and leave a long shallow gash down the side of her leg.</p><p>Steadying herself, Amity lifted her sword and traced another circle in the air, narrower than her first and pink instead of purple. The small circle traveled down the length of her blade, sheathing the metal in surging pink flames. As her spell resolved, Amity tried to take stock of her situation. It wasn't just about her fear of Willow not forgiving her; Grom was projecting and feeding on her fears of <em> no one </em> ever liking her because of how she'd acted for so long.</p><p>Before Amity could put any more thought into her predicament, Grom-Willow swung her arms up and the vines surged forward. Amity shifted her weight onto her uninjured leg and raised her flame-shrouded rapier to parry them. The smell of burning vegetation filled the pit as Amity and Grom-Willow began exchanging blows.</p><p>All things considered, Amity thought she was doing an admirable job fending off the two meaty vines. They shrunk back when blocked with her flaming blade, but there were two of them and she only had one sword. For the most part, her reflexes were sharp enough to keep them both at bay, but inevitably, one would slip past her defenses and land a scratch or tear at her dress before she could drive it back.</p><p>One such thrust got particularly close to her left side and the vine dug its thorn into Amity's upper arm, shredding her sleeve and causing her to clench her teeth and take in a sharp breath. She couldn't afford to stay on the defensive much longer. She could feel her movements slowing from her exertion and wounds, and it would only be a matter of time before one of the vines got a good hit on her. She had to strike back.</p><p>Her rapier was designed to pierce rather than cut, but it did have a blade and the fire surrounding it might be enough to allow it to cleave through Grom-Willow's plants. Holding her breath, Amity took a chance and swung her sword at the tip of one of the vines. To her relief, the blade sliced neatly through the plant and the singed tip fell to the ground. </p><p>As Amity went on the offensive, hacking away at the plants inch by inch, she tried to think of a way to address her fears. She couldn't control whether Willow or anyone else would ever be her friend, but she could change the way she treated people; she was already trying to. Cutting down the last of the vines, she pushed forward on her good leg to lunge toward Grom-Willow, sword raised.</p><p>The creature raised its arms to defend itself, waiting for a strike that didn't come. Amity thrust her sword into the ground behind Grom-Willow, letting go of it and pulling the shorter witch into a tight hug. "I'm sorry for treating you the way I did, and you have every right not to forgive me, but I promise to treat you and everyone else better from now on."</p><p>Amity felt the form of her oldest friend melt away into oily lukewarm sludge within her arms. Shaking the remains of the monster off of her, she walked over to her sword and pulled it out of the earth. With a flick of her wrist, she released the flame spell, then moved to lean against one of the pillars lining the pit. Her mind and body were both exhausted. All she wanted was to go home and have a long bath, but somehow she knew the worst was yet to come.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity fought to keep from groaning as she leaned against the pillar for support; physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. Her body was covered in light scratches, with deeper wounds on her left arm and leg, and her mind felt even worse. Having to face her fears and figure out how to confront them had left her feeling more torn apart on the inside than she was on the outside. </p><p>Scanning the pit she'd been consigned to, Amity eyed the globs of the inky black substance that was Grom's true form scattered across the walls and ground during her earlier confrontations. Her gut clinched as they began to slink toward the deepest shadows of the pit.</p><p>Favoring her right side, Amity pushed off the wall and stood to face the growing mass. She told herself that this was the last one. It had to be. As she watched, the pieces of the creature came together, expanding until a familiar form loomed over her, larger than life. The details weren't clear yet, but there was no doubt in Amity's mind as to who it was—her mother.</p><p>She wanted to drop her sword and run. She might have, if she wasn't paralyzed with fear. Her mother was not someone she could fight or hug away. Amity stared up in horror, and watched as the towering figure of Odalia Blight reached out a shadowy hand and cupped her face. Chills ran down the young witch's spine at the oily lukewarm caress of Grom and she felt something reach inside her and violate her mind.</p><p>Still frozen in place, Amity watched as the huge form before her slowly shrunk down and condensed into something closer to her own height. Its features changed as it shrank, Amity feeling relief at first, then horror as they reshaped into the one person she was more afraid of facing than her mother. This time the details all came into sharp focus, and Amity found herself face to face with a perfect copy of Luz.</p><p>Grom-Luz smiled and gave a friendly wave. In Luz's voice, it said, "Hi, Amity. What's up? I heard you had something you wanted to ask me."</p><p>"I–" Amity managed to choke out, unable to complete her sentence. The thing she'd been most afraid of was happening, and it was somehow worse than she had imagined. She wanted to run more than ever, but found herself still unable to move a muscle.</p><p>"Oh, are you having a hard time talking?" Grom-Luz asked, her voice concerned. "That's alright. You wrote it down, didn't you?" With a carefree smile, she leaned close to Amity and casually slipped her hand into the pocket of the young witch's tattered dress.</p><p>Amity felt her whole body turn red, from Grom-Luz's proximity as much as from what she knew was about to happen. She tried to will her hands to move as the copy of her crush smoothly retrieved the pink paper from her dress, but they wouldn't budge.</p><p>Grom-Luz unfolded the invitation and read it aloud, "Luz, Will you go to Grom with me, Amity."</p><p>Warm tears rolled down Amity's flushed cheeks. This was it, exactly what she was afraid of from the beginning. The whole school knew, <em> Luz </em> knew, and now she was going to get rejected, then rejected again by the real Luz. Everything was over.</p><p>Lowering the note to look at Amity, the creature sneered. Beautiful brown eyes boring into hers, it laughed and said, "<em> You're </em> asking <em> me </em> to Grom? Why would I want to go with a cold-hearted bully like you? I don't even like—"</p><p>The monster's words were cut short when a flash of light erupted from above and filled the pit. Amity couldn't make out any details through the bright light, but saw a figure drop down and land behind Grom-Luz. As the light began to recede, there was a shout and the sound of something slapping against the ground echoed through the small underground space. A chill filled the air as a spike of ice jutted up from behind the creature and pierced its chest, lifting Grom-Luz off the ground as another Luz strode out from behind it toward Amity.</p><p>Amity had no idea what was going on. Body still refusing to move, she could only stare as the new Luz approached. She wanted desperately for it to be the real Luz, jumping down to save her, but that was too good to be true. Things like that only happened in books; it had to be another trick. Marshaling the last of her willpower, she managed to raise her sword and take a defensive stance.</p><p>Smiling one of her heart-melting smiles as she continued toward Amity, Luz said, "Yes."</p><p>"W-what?" Amity asked shakily, not daring to imagine that what she was hearing was real. Her sword-arm wavered, and Luz gently pushed the blade aside as she stepped inside Amity's guard.</p><p>Still smiling, Luz took Amity's free hand and gently pushed one of her paper glyphs onto the young witch's wrist. There was a warm sensation as the paper glowed and blossomed into a corsage of pale purple flowers that suited her dress perfectly. Still very close from placing the glyph on Amity's wrist, Luz clarified, "Yes, I would love to go to Grom with you. I mean, if you still want to."</p><p>The tension drained from Amity's body, and she felt her lips curl up into a shaky smile as happy tears blurred her vision. Letting her sword clatter to the ground, she threw her arms around Luz. "Of course I do," she said, burying her face in Luz's neck.</p><p>Just as Luz began to return her embrace, a strand of inky black goo shot out from the shadows and attached itself to the back of the human girl's head. Looking over Luz's shoulder in horror, Amity saw that the Grom-Luz had melted away and was now reforming into something else. Grom detached itself from Luz's head as it began to take the form of a looming rectangle.</p><p>Keeping one arm around Amity's waist, Luz confidently turned to face Grom, drawing an assortment of glyphs from her jacket and fanning them out dramatically. The dark rectangle resolved into an ornate door with a large eye taking up the top half, and Amity felt the arm around her tense. When the door began to open, Luz took a step back and Amity could hear the paper glyphs crumpling in her hand.</p><p>Amity looked from the opening door to her crush, and found a look of utter dread on Luz's face. Realization flashed in Amity's mind. Grom wasn't targeting her anymore; it was bringing Luz's worst fear to life, and it was all her fault. The thing she'd gone through so much to avoid was happening anyway, because she had been too weak to face her own fear.</p><p>Looking back to Grom, Amity saw a human woman with glasses and a skin tone similar to Luz's walking through the open door. From her age, she assumed it must be Luz's mother. Looking around confused, the woman asked, "Mija?"</p><p>Luz gaped, her eyes going wide. After a moment, she gathered herself enough to shakily ask, "Mom? What are you doing here?"</p><p>Amity watched as the Grom copy of Luz's mother stepped through the doorway, looking around the pit and up at what was visible beyond it with confusion and horror. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Luz, what is this terrible place? Espérate un momento, this isn't camp. Have you been here, all these weeks?" Her eyes turned to focus intensely on Amity, then down to Luz's arm around her waist, adding, "And what is this?"</p><p>"It's– I can explain!" Luz blurted out. The arm around Amity's waist grew even tenser, and the human girl began to sweat.</p><p>The skin of the copy of Luz's mother began to ripple and bubble, taking on a grey tinge. An unnaturally sinister gleam shone in its eyes, as it asked, "How could you lie to me, Mija? It's bad enough that you act up at school, but now you've run away to some… some <em> devil world </em>? And what are you doing with that girl?"</p><p>Luz swallowed audibly, and pleaded, "Mom, it's not what it looks like, we were just– this is just–"</p><p>The imitation shook its head in disapproval as it's skin reached a boil, now darkened to a near pitch black. It's voice a deep growl, it ranted, "Aren't you different enough, Mija? You already cause me so much trouble, and now you're doing something so <em> sinful </em>? How can you do this to me?"</p><p>Luz stood petrified, staring at the monster in front of her. Her arm was a stone clamp around Amity's waist. Unable to stand by and listen to any more criticism of the girl who had just jumped into a pit to fight a monster for her, Amity pried herself free of Luz's arm. Luz had saved her, now it was her turn.</p><p>"Luz isn't doing anything wrong," she insisted firmly, interposing herself between Grom and her date. Smiling and running her hand over the corsage Luz had just given her, she continued, "Sure, she's weird and she screws up a lot, but she always makes things right. She's always doing her best and trying to help people, even the people who are too thickheaded to know they need help." Turning her head to look back at Luz, then facing the monster again, Amity added, "It's why I wanted to ask her out."</p><p>The now barely human monstrosity looked past Amity and glared at Luz. "Is this true?"</p><p>Amity heard Luz take a deep breath, then felt her date's hand in hers as Luz stepped up to face the monster. In a confident voice, she said, "Yes, she's my date. This <em> wonderful </em> place is called the Boiling Isles, I love it here, and Amity is one of the best things about it." After a beat, she awkwardly added, "This is Amity, by the way."</p><p>"Um, hi," Amity said reflexively, giving a small wave and blushing furiously.</p><p>As if in response to Luz facing her fear, Grom gave up any pretense of being the human's mother. The boiling of its skin intensified and unstable looking bulges began to distort its form into something bestial. As it left the guise of Luz's mother behind, Grom grew larger than ever, rows of eyes and a gaping maw appearing as it did. The monster let out a primal roar, dropping onto its now claw-like hands and charging the two girls.</p><p>Luz and Amity let go of each other's hands and dove to either side of the advancing mass of darkness in perfect sync. As she tumbled to a stop, Amity spotted her rapier out of the corner of her eye and made a dash for it, doing her best to ignore the sharp pain and warm blood she felt as the wound on her leg was torn open further. Luz, meanwhile, was showing a surprising amount of athleticism as she managed to evade a second charge from Grom.</p><p>While Grom was rounding for a third charge, Amity ran over to her date to find her heaving from the effort of dodging the giant monster a second time. Knowing neither of them were in any shape to dodge another charge, Amity positioned herself in front of Luz and raised her sword. There was no way the thin blade would stop Grom, but it was the only thing she could think of.</p><p>Wordlessly, Luz stepped up next to Amity, putting an arm around her to support her left side. With her free hand, the human placed one of her glyphs at the base of the blade. The sword began to give off a pure white light, and Luz put a steadying hand over Amity's.</p><p>Together, they held their ground as Grom's monstrous form surged toward them. Amity felt all of her fear wash away in the comfort of Luz's embrace and the growing light of their sword. Grom seemed to grow smaller the closer it got, and when it finally reached them it was barely larger than they were. Still, the monster continued its charge, impaling itself on their shining blade.</p><p>Grom came to a halt before it could reach the two young witches. With most of the now almost-blinding blade buried inside of it, the monster's body began to shake and distort. The fear-bringer let out a pained growl as it desperately tried to claw closer to the girls, glowing bulges stretching out its inky body as it inched closer. Letting out one final howl, it erupted outward in a shower of inky black ichor that sprayed against the far wall of the pit, before oozing down and seeping into the ground.</p><p>Amity and Luz raised their sword in triumph, lighting up the pit and the gym above. Amity felt a light pressure settle on her head and turned to Luz, their eyes meeting for a moment before they both looked up to find a crown sitting on the other's head. It was over. They had been crowned Grom queens.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey, </p><p>Not entirely sure where I'm taking this from here. Originally, it was just going to be a scene with Amity and Luz outside together after ducking out on the night.</p><p>People have expressed interest in seeing them interact with others at Grom though, which could be fun, but I worry that adding too much after what is essentially the climax (this chapter) would unbalance the story.</p><p>Maybe I'll just go with my original plan and then try to plot a midquel for the story later. That might work.</p><p>Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm open to suggestions, although I can't promise I'll use them. As always, kudos are great, but comments make my day.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity and Luz's footsteps echoed through the empty halls of Hexside Academy. Amity wanted to say something, but she had no idea where to start. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and she was still trying to make sense of it all. Absentmindedly, she rubbed the blemishless spot on her left arm where her wound had been.</p><p>"It doesn't still hurt, does it?" Luz asked with concern, looking down at where Amity was massaging her arm.</p><p>Amity nearly jumped at the break in the silence. "No," she hurriedly answered, pulling her hand away self consciously. After taking a breath to recover, she explained, "It's just… weird. Whenever I've received healing before, there was always a mark left and it was still sore after. This is like it never happened."</p><p>Luz shrugged and folded her hands behind her neck. "That's Eda for you. She <em>is</em> the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles."</p><p>"You really look up to her, don't you?" Amity asked softly, deciding it was best to avoid a debate on the subject of who the most powerful witch on the Isles was.</p><p>"Well, yeah," Luz said, her voice full of admiration. "She's crazy powerful and doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. I know she likes to act like an old grump, but she actually really cares. She's saved me a ton of times, and she got us away from the gym, didn't she?"</p><p>Amity couldn't keep a small smile from her face. She loved seeing Luz so animated and optimistic. Luz getting into all kinds of trouble was also somehow cute, and not at all hard to imagine. Amity still had her doubts about The Owl Lady, but had to admit that Luz was at least right about earlier.</p><p>After performing her weirdly effective healing magic, the older witch had managed to shepherd Amity and Luz out of the gym and away from their swarming classmates, winking and telling them that they should go share some "quality time" together. Just thinking about it made Amity blush.</p><p>Realizing that Luz was probably waiting for an answer to her question, Amity quickly agreed, "Yeah, she definitely saved us. I really don't feel like being around anyone right now, especially Willow or Ed and Em."</p><p>"Oh," Luz said, sounding slightly dejected as she dropped her arms to her sides. "Did you want me to go, because I can—"</p><p>"No!" Amity interjected, quicker and louder than she'd intended. Fighting the urge to latch onto Luz so she couldn't get away, she continued in a quieter voice, "No. I… I want you here. I don't want to be alone."</p><p>"Then I'm not going anywhere," Luz assured her, one of the corners of her mouth rising to form a lopsided smile.</p><p>They returned to a companionable, if slightly awkward, silence as Amity led Luz around a corner and toward one of the side entrances of the school. She really needed to be in an open space after fighting in that claustrophobic pit, and the front entrance was likely to have students milling about.</p><p>Pushing through the double doors, the crisp night air and open sky washed over Amity like a cleansing shower. Unfortunately, what would have otherwise been a refreshing breeze chilled her through her tattered dress. Shivering, she took a seat on the stairs to huddle for warmth, only to feel a comfortable weight settle on her shoulders and shield her from the cold.</p><p>Before she could try to figure out what it was, Luz sat down next to her, sans jacket. Smiling, her date said, "You looked cold."</p><p>"I must look ridiculous," Amity said, blushing as she pulled Luz's jacket around her, trying to cover as much of the dress that Grom's imitation of Willow had shredded as possible.</p><p>"I think you look cute," Luz responded, blushing herself as she looked at Amity.</p><p>"Um, thanks," Amity replied, feeling even more blood rush to her cheeks. Unable to look Luz in the eye, she said, "You, um, look good too."</p><p>There was a pause that couldn't have possibly been as long as it felt, then Luz asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"</p><p>Amity bit her lip and stared down at her lap for a minute. Deciding she could trust Luz, she took a moment to gather herself and said, "I just feel so… violated. It's not just about everyone knowing my fears, although that's definitely not something I'm looking forward to. That thing was rooting around in my head. It saw everything and brought the worst of it to life."</p><p>"Yeah," Luz said absently, turning her head toward the lawn in front of them and staring off into the middle distance.</p><p>Amity's stomach dropped as she realized that Luz knew exactly what she was talking about, because she'd made the other girl go through it. Putting a hand on Luz's arm, Amity turned to her and said, "I'm so sorry, Luz."</p><p>Blinking a few times as she came back from whatever she'd been thinking about, Luz turned to Amity with a confused look on her face and asked, "What? What do you have to be sorry about?"</p><p>"I… You wouldn't have had to face Grom if I could have just faced my fears myself," Amity explained, letting her hand drop from Luz's arm to the ground between them and shifting her gaze back down to her lap.</p><p>Amity felt Luz's warm hand cover her own. "Amity, you faced two of your biggest fears, literally, <em>with a sword</em>. You totally could have beaten the third one too. I jumped down there because <em>I</em> wanted to. I would have no matter what; I couldn't sit still when I saw something that looked like me hurting you."</p><p>Amity didn't know what to say. Without thinking, she blurted out, "So, you meant it when you said yes?"</p><p>Luz reached the hand that wasn't covering Amity's out and lifted Amity's chin until they were starting into each other's eyes. With one of her characteristic quirky smiles, the human asked, "Have I ever lied to you?"</p><p>Amity tried to think of a time that she had, made difficult by Luz's large brown eyes drawing her in. In the end, she couldn't. Luz was straightforward to a fault; it was one of things that had made Amity fall for her. In a small voice, the young witch replied, "No."</p><p>Luz let go of Amity's chin, but maintained eye contact. Still smiling her quirky smile, she said, "Well, there you go."</p><p>Amity found herself blushing again, and tore her gaze away from Luz's to look forward. Playing with the hem of Luz's jacket, she said, "Okay, so, what do we do now? I—if you tell this to anyone I'll kill you—I've never really been on a date before."</p><p>Luz laughed, and said, "I think we're just supposed to get to know each other and find out what we have in common, like the fact that neither of us has been on a date before."</p><p>"Wait, <em>you've</em> never been on a date?" Amity asked incredulously. "I just figured with you being so friendly and outgoing…" the young witch trailed off, deciding to keep 'kind, cute, and adorably dorky' to herself for the time being.</p><p>Heaving a sigh, Luz stood up and started pacing, her hand leaving Amity's cold and alone as she did. Letting out an uncharacteristically bitter chuckle, she said, "Believe it or not, I don't exactly fit in back in the human realm. Everyone there thinks I'm a weirdo who needs to be fixed. That's why I like it here, everything's weird."</p><p>She stopped talking for a moment, pacing the length of the stairs. It seemed like she was considering whether or not to keep going. Amity waited patiently, not wanting to push what was clearly a sore subject. Eventually, Luz continued, "I haven't told anyone this, but I don't really have any friends back home, much less anyone who would want to go out with me. There was one girl I got along with and kind of liked in middle school, but I was afraid to ask her out."</p><p>"You were afraid?" Amity asked, unable to stop herself. Luz was the most confident person Amity knew; she didn't care what anyone thought of her. Amity had a hard time imagining her having trouble asking someone out.</p><p>Luz sighed and stopped pacing to stare at the ground. "Yeah, I was scared," Luz said dejectedly, kicking a pebble into the grass. "From what I've seen here, everyone's pretty cool about people liking whoever they like," Luz explained, "but in the human realm, things aren't like that. A lot of people don't approve of a girl liking another girl."</p><p>"Your fear," Amity gasped in realization, the words of the Grom copy of Luz's mom suddenly taking on a new meaning.</p><p>"Yeah, that was part of it," Luz admitted, scratching the back of her head and turning to face Amity with a weak smile. "See, my mom's real religious—oh, right, you guys don't really have that here. It's kind of like tradition, and part of that tradition is not really liking same sex relationships. All my mom and I have is each other, and if I started going out with a girl, I don't know what would happen."</p><p>"So, what about us?" Amity asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted to know the answer.</p><p>"I don't want to be afraid anymore," Luz replied, sitting back down, closer to Amity than before. Taking Amity's hand and intertwining their fingers, she added, "You gave me the courage to face that fear. After everything you said and did, how could I not want to be with you?"</p><p>"I– No, I didn't– I mean–" Amity stammered, blushing furiously.</p><p>Luz's serious expression gave way to a grin, quickly followed by her snorting and failing miserably at holding back a laugh.</p><p>"What's so funny?" Amity snapped reflexively, regretting the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.</p><p>Wiping amused tears from her eyes, Luz's smile turned playful, and she said, "Sorry, you're just so cute when you're flustered."</p><p>"I'm… cute?" Amity asked, blushing furiously.</p><p>"<em>Very</em>," Luz replied. The briefest shadow of anxiety crossed her face, then she closed her eyes and started leaning toward Amity.</p><p>Amity felt the blush on her cheeks creep all the way up to her ears as she mirrored Luz, closing her eyes as she closed the gap between her and the girl she'd been crushing on for the past few weeks.</p><p>The kiss was more than she'd dreamed it would be. There was the gentle sensation of Luz's lips brushing against hers of course, but it was so much more than that. There was a spark, a connection between them that she couldn't explain. It was a feeling, one she'd never experienced before, but very much wanted to experience again.</p><p>All too soon, they parted, Amity's fingers going to her lips, while Luz whispered, "Wow."</p><p>"Yeah," Amity agreed in the same hushed tone, suddenly feeling very nervous for some reason.</p><p>Luz gave the hand intertwined with hers a gentle squeeze. "You okay?" she asked, sounding nearly as anxious as Amity felt.</p><p>Amity returned Luz's squeeze, finding comfort in the warmth of the other girl's hand. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in and felt a smile form on her face. Leaning over, she closed the gap between her and Luz again, this time resting her head and shoulder against her date. "Perfect," she answered, contentedly closing her eyes as she felt Luz relax and lean against her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi,</p><p>So, that's it folks. I ended up going with my original plan of giving the girls a little time to themselves; I just think it balances things out well. The story's about Amity and, to a lesser extent, Luz. Dealing with other characters would muddle that.</p><p>Thanks for reading, all the kudos, and of course the comments. I may try to continue this and see how the rest of the show would play out with Amity and Luz together, but no promises.</p><p>Anyway, please let me know how you thought this turned out in the comments. Thanks again! Bye!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey there,</p>
<p>This is my first attempt at The Owl House, so the voices may be a little off. It's also my first time writing nearly this much action, so I'd appreciate hearing how it reads. As always, kudos are great, but comments make my day. Thanks for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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